Means for superheating steam



No. 748,822. BTENTED JAN. 5, 1904. E. F. WALLMANN. MEANS FR SUPERHEATING STEAM.;

APPLIUATIONNLED JAN. 1s, 189s.

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H. P. WALLMANN': MEANS FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM.

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, UNITED STATES'- Patented VJanuary 5, 1904.'

PATENT Orrlon.

HENNING FRIEDRICH WALLMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WALLMANN ENGINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR SUPERHEATING STEAM.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 748,822, dated January 5, 1904.

Application iled January 19, 1899. daria] No. 702,703. (No model.)

To call whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENNING FRIEDRICH WALLMANN, of Chicago, in the coun ty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Superheating Steam, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in means for superheating steam, being adapted for use in connection with steam-engines, either simple or compound, single or double acting, of any approved type, and has for its object to increase the efficiency of such engines in a simple and effective manner; and to these ends the invention consists in an improved apparatus for forcing a blast or current of burning gaseous fuel or the prod ucts of its combustion directly into the working cylinder of the engine, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an en` gine embodying the mechanical features of my invention. Fig, 2 is an enlarged vertical section through one end of the cylinder thereof and through the adjacent mechanism. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating a modified form of a portion thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of the upper portion of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figs. 1,2, and 4. Fig. 6 is a detail plan section through the mixer, taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2 and with the mixing-disks omitted. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively plan and sectional views of one form of mixing-disk; and Figs. 9 and 10 are similar views of another form of mixingdisk, Fig. 10 being in section upon the line 10 10 of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings, in which I have shown an apparatus adapted for carrying out my invention, indicates the bed of an engine, having a working cylinder A16, in which is mounted a piston 17, which actilates a piston-rod 18, from which rotary motion is imparted to the-shaft 19 by means of aconnecting-rod 20 in the usual manner.

21 indicates a crank or eccentric on the shaft 19, to which is connected a rod 22, which imparts an oscillating motion to a rocker 23, being connected to one arm thereof. A second arm of said rocker is connected by means of a link 24 to the piston-rod 25 of an airpnmp 26, by means of which a supply of air is forced into and maintained -u nder pressure in a reservoir 27, from which it may be withdrawn by a supply-pipe 28.` The reservoir 27 is connected with the pump 26 lby means of `a pipe 29. A third arm' of the rocker 23 is connected by a link 30 with the piston-rod 31 of a gas-pu mp 32, said pump being connected bya pipe 33 with a source of supply of gas and by a pipe 34 with a reservoir-35, in which a supply of-gas is accumulated and maintained under pressure by the pump 32. The gas under pressure may be Withdrawn from the reservoir 35 by means of asupply-pipe 36. A The cylinder 16 has connected with it the Vusual steam-supply pipe 37 and exhaust-pipe 38 and is provided with the usual inlet and exhaust ports and controlling-valves. There is also provided at each end of the cylinder an inlet-opening 39, by means of which the burning gases or heated products of combustion may be introduced into the interior of the cylinder, and for this purpose there isy employed at each end of the cylinder a mixing and igniting device whereby the admission, admixture, and combustion of the gas or mixture of airand gas is controlled. These 4two devices being similar in construction I will only describe one of them in detail, it being understood that the same description is equally ap plcable to the other. It will be understood, of course, that when the engine is a single-acting engine only one of these devices may be employed. This mixeris preferably constructed in accordance with the application filed by me December 17, 1898, Serial No. 699,577, in which case it comprises a casting 40, having in the lower portion thereof a combustion-chamber 41, which communicates with the interior of the cyiind'er 16 through a passage or outlet 42, the casting 40 being threaded at its lower end to screw into the correspondingly-threaded inlet-opening 39 of the cylinder. There is also provided within the combustion-chamber 41 asuitable igniting device 43. Above the combustionchamber 41 there is formed in the casting 40 a mixing-chamber 44, and Within this chamber there is located a plurality of mixing- ICO disks and 46, superposed the one upon the other and alternately arranged. The mixing-disks 45 are preferably constructed in the manner shown in detail in Figs. 9 and l0 of the drawings, being provided with a plurality of passages 47, extending therethrough from top to bottom, and a plurality of passages 48, extending from the side of the periphery of the disk to the bottom thereof and closed at the top by the body of the disk. The passages 47 and 48 are alternately arranged and preferably consist of radial slits, which may be readily formed by cutting, and in this case the disks are preferably formed of a cylindrical body portion and an annular peripheral band 49, which extends a'bove and below the body of the disk, the said band closing the passages 47 laterally, while the passages 48 are cut through said band. The alternating disks 46 are provided with an enlarged central aperture 50 andare preferably dished or hollowed out on their upper and lower faces, as shown. There are thus formed a plurality of commingling spaces 51, lying between the disks 45 and.46. Adjacent to each disk 45 there is formed in the Wall of the mixing-chamber an annular passage 52, communicating with the passages 48, and these annular passages 52 are connected by passages 53, the uppermost passage 52 being in connection with an air-inlet chamber 54.

55 indicates an air-inlet passage with which the airsupply pipe 28 is connected by a branch 56, and 57 indicates a valve controlling the passage into the air-inlet chamber 54, said valve being preferably a balanced valve, as shown, and being normally closed by a spring 58.

59 indicates a gas-inlet passage communieating with the upper end of the mixingchamber and being connected with the gassupply pipe 36 by a branch 60, the connection between the passage and the mixing-chamber being controlled by a valve 61, which is normally closed by a spring 62. The valves 57 and 61 are actuated by tappets 63 on a rockshaft 64, having an arm '65, to which is connected, by a ball-and-socket joint 66, a rod 67, the other end of which is connected to one of the arms of the rocker 23.

The apparatus just described is intended for use with steam as the motive fluid and with a mixture of air and gas as the superheating medium, and in its operation the air and gas are admitted to the mixing-chamber by the opening of the valves 57 and 6l and are there thoroughly commingled, being afterward ignited in the combustion-chamber and thence forced into the cylinder, where they serve to superheat and further expand the steam, and therebyincrease the eiiciency of the engine.

Preferably the air-valve 57 is opened somewhat before the gas-valve 6l, so that any steam or waste gases which may remain within the mixer and combustion-chamber will be forced out of them before the gas is admitted, and the prompt ignition of the mixture be thus assured. To this end the tappets of the two valves are arranged at varying angles to their operating rock-shaft, and this position may obviously be readily adjusted for this end. I do not Wish to be understood as limiting my invention to the use of a mixture of air and gas as the superheating means, however, as any combustible duid fuel may be employed, and in Fig. 3 I have shown a construction which is adapted for the use of a liquid fuel, such as a hydrocarbon, which is adapted to be converted into gas. In this construction the mixer and combustion-chamber are surrounded by a jacket 68, into which the liquid fuel or oil may be introduced bya branch pipe 69 from a suitable supply-pipe 70 and from which after being vaporized it may be conducted by a pipe 7l to the gas-inlet passage 59. A pipe or passage 72 extends from the air-inlet passage to the interior of the vaporizing-chamber formed by the jacket 68, so that a portion of the air is diverted into said vaporizing-chamber and mingled with the vapor from the liquid fuel before the same is admitted to the mixer.

In the case of a compound engine it is obvious that the burning gases or the products of their combustion may be introduced either directly into the working cylinder proper or into the receiver, which for the purposes of my invention may be considered as a portion of the cylinder, and I Wish to be understood as including within the scope of the appended claim such a construction.

I claim- The combination with a steam-engine having a cylinder and power-piston therein and provided with the usual steam inlet and exhaust devices, of a combustion-chamber in open communication with the interior of the cylinder at one end thereof, a mixer at the entrance of the combustion-cham ber, air and gas pumps respectively connected with suitable sources of supply and with the mixer, valves controlling the supply of air and gas to the mixer, and a rocker connected with and actuated from the engine-shaft, said rocker being also connected with and actuating the air and gas pumps and the controlling-valves of the mixer, substantially as de- IOO IIO 

